Apparatus for producing folded boxes and box covers



' pr 23, 1963 W.WALDBAUER am 3,086,427

April 1963 w. WALDBAUER arm. 3

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FOLDED BOXES AND BOX CQVERS April 23 1963 w. WALDBAUER ET m. 3 86 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FOLDED BOXES AND BOX COVERS Filed July 5 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jn van! m:-

United States Patent O 3086,427 APPARATUS FR PRODUCING FOLDED BOXES AND BOX COVERS Wilhelm Walclbaner, Stuttgart-Lederberg, Richard Gesterle, Stuttgart-Wangen, and Kurt Baden, Stuttgart- Molningen, Germany, assignors t Container A.G., Patentverwertungsgesellitmhaft, Chur, Switzerlansl, a C01- poration of Switzerlaml File .l'uly 5, 1962, Sex. N0. 207,566 Claims priority, application Germany July 8, 1961 2 Claims. (Cl. 93-51) The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing open folded boxes and/o1 box covers and for staeking them in a manner so as to nest in a zigzag formation in each other by means ot a pair of slide mernbers which are provided at the side of the folding box of the apparatus where the completed boxes or box cov-ers are ejected and which alternately act upon one or the opposite side Wall of the suecessive boxes 01' covers so as to shift them slightly toward the right or toward the left of each other.

Although in a prior apparatus of this kind, as disclosed in the U.S. Patent N0. 1538851 the completed boxes are stacked in a similar manner as above described so as to nest in a zigzag formation in each other, this stacking has to be carried out in a vert-ical direction by means of a plnger upon Which the individual finished boxes first have to be deposited in an accurate position and Which at every stroke must litt the entire vertical stack of boxes before it can add the next box to the Stack. While the plunger is being retracted to receive a new box, the Stack of boxes must be held in an arrested Position between guide rails by a special holding mechanism which must also permit the last-inserted box to be held at a prescribed level and then to be shifted toward the right or toward the left. Apart from the fast that such a holding meehanisrn is rather complicated and expensiv-e, this entire apparatus can be used merely for stacking boxes which have previously been made in another machine and it is oi such adesign that without a special inventive efiort it cannot be reconstrueted so as to forrn a Single unitary machine which is adapted to niake as well as to stack the boxes in a continuous operation.

Although the U.S. Patent N0. 2132859 discloses an apparatus for producing folded boxes or box COVCIS which is provided With slide fingers serving as stop niembers for forming and supporting the bottom of a box while it is being made in the folding box, this apparatus is not adapted for also stacking the boxes or covers so as to rest in a zigzag formation in each other, but the completed boxes are individually ejected in the downward direction from the folding box and must thereafter be stacked in a separate operation. Apart from the fact that this box-making apparatus is very complicated and expensive, its methocl of operation is slow and it also requires an extra attendant merely for the purpose of collecting and stacking the completed boxes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a very simple and unitary apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages of the above-mentioned apparatus and is adapted to fold the boxes or box covers and immediately thereafter to stack them so as -to rest in a zigzag formation in each other. F01 attaining this objeet, the invention provides a box-making apparatus which comprises a folding box which is disposed in a substantially horizontal poistion, a plunger which is adapted to reciprocate in a substantially horizontal direct-ion for inserting suitably precut blanks into the folding box for folding them therein to form the boxes or box covers and for also ejecting the completed boxes 01' covers frorn the folding box, a platform Ior receiving the completed boxes 3,035,427 Patented Apr. 23, 1963 Which is in alignment with and forms a continuation of the lower Wall of the folding box, and a pair of slide Inembers which may be inserted from two opposite sides into the folding box in a direction parallel to the plane of the receiving platform. The free ends of these slide members form fingers which when the plunger is moved to its forward end position within the folding box, serve as a support or stop for the bottom of the box which is being formed. The end surfaces of the inner box-forming Walls of the folding box facing the stop fingers and also the end surfaces of these fingers facing each other are beveled so as to diverge in the direction in Which the boxes are ejected and to form guide surfaces along which the free rear edges of the corresponding side walls of the completed boxes can slide. When the fingers are xnoved outwardly, their beveled edges are substan tially in alignment with and form a continuation of the beveled edges of the folding box. A further feature of the invention consists in providing behind these stop and guide fingers, as seen in the direction in which the completed boxes are ejected, a further pair of slide members which are movable in the same direction as these fingers and are adapted to engage with one or the opposite s-ide Wall of the completed box Which is being ejected and to shift the same alternately to the left or to the right so that the edges of the completed boxes slide alternately over the beveled guide surfaces toward one side or the other so that the ejected boxes will be nested in a zigzag formation in each other.

A further feature 0f the invention which also permits the apparatus to -be of a very simple construction consists in designing it so that the two fingers are movable simultaneously in opposite directions when used as stops for the bottorn of the box which is being formed in the folding box, while when they are used as guide members in operative association With the other slide members they are alternately moved.

The features and advantages of the present invention Will becorne more clearly apparent from the following detailed description of. a preferred embodirnent thereof which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whieh- FIGURE 1 shows a general side view of the entire machine;

FIGURE 2 shows a plan view of the machine according to FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 shows a bottom view of the folding mechanism, as seen in the direction of operation of the plunger; while FIGURES 4 to 10 are cross sections taken along line IV-IV of FIGURE 3 and illustrate diiferent steps in the operation of the folding mechanism.

The housing 1 of the machine contains the driving and control means for operating the ma-chine. Above this housing 1, two pairs of inclined rai1s 2are provided on which the blanks slide into the folding mechanism. Behind the maehine, as seen in the direction of operation, a platforrn 3 is provided along which the finished boxes 4 nesting in each other in a zigzag formation are moved. The Walls ot the folding box of the machine are formed by the members 5 and 6. The precut blanks A -are pushed one at a time by the plunger 7 into the folding box 5, 6, while two slide fingers 8 and S serving as stop members are moved toward each other into the folding box from the two narrow sides thereof before the plunger 7 reaches the position in which its movement is reversed. By -this inward movement of the fingers 8 and 8', the box B is moved from its inclined position, as illustrated in FIGURE 4, to which it has been rnoved l y a further pair of slide rnembers 11 and 11' which are located behind the fingers 8 and 8' and a1e movable in the same -direction as the latter to a position which is slightly more parallel to the front surface of the plunger, as illustrated in FIGURE S.

After plunger 7 has thcn pressed tho blank A against the fingcrs 8 and 8' and is thereafter withdrawn'from the folding box 5, 6, as also shown in FIGURE 5, a pair of pivotable arms 9 and 9' fold the flaps of blank A which project over the Wall porlions of tlne latter toward the inside and press them against the immer sides of tl1e wall portions, as shown in FIGURE 6.

Since the box is now cornpleted, tne folding arms 9 and 9' are pivoted out of tl1e box, as shown in FIGURE 7, and then back to their original positions, whereby the control members 10 and 1G are likewise pivoted back so as to withdraw the fingcrs 8 and 8' frorn tl1e inside of the folding box 5, 6 to the position as shown in FIGURE 8. In the meantime, a now blank D is slipped in front of the folding box so tl1at at its next forward movcmcnt plungcr 7 engagcs with and inserts this ncw blank D into tl1e folding box, and this blank thereby =puslacs ihc box A out of the folding box and partly into the box B which causes the latier to turn to an inclinecl position opposite to its previous inclination, as indicated in full and dotted lines in FIGURE 9. The furthcr rnovcment of box A causes the inclination of box B to -be increased With the result that the next box C is again moved to a position parallel to the opening of :the folding box.

As the next step in the operation of the machine as illustrated in FIGURE 10, box A which lies in front of the folding box is pushed by the sli le member 11' toward the left, whercby tl1e free edge oi thc left sicle wall of box A slides along -the inclined surface 12. This slide mernber 11' is exactly like the slide member 11 which, as shown in FIGURE 4, has previously pushed the box B toward the right.

Since the means for driving and controlling the operation of the mernbers 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are conventional in tl1e a1't and do not constitute a part of the invention, a spscial illustration tl1ereof has been omitted.

Although our invention has been illustratcd and described with reference to the preferred embodirnent thereof, wo wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

'rIaving (aus fully disclosed onr invention, what wo claim is:

1. A unitary apparatus for producing folded box parts in the form of open boxes 01' box covers and for then stacking said box Parts so as to nest in a zigzag formation in euch other comprising a folding box, a plunger adapted to reciprocate in a substantially horizontal direction into and out of said folding box for folding a precut blank into a box part and for then ejecting the lattcr from said folding box by rneans of the following completcd box part, said folding box having a substantially horizontal lower wall, a platforrn substantially in alignrnent with and forming a continuation of said lower Wall for receiving tl1e ejccted box arts from said folding box, a pair of slide mcrnbers adjacent to the rear edges of two opposite sido Walls of said folding box defining thc box-forming area thereof, said slidc mombers being adapted -to reciprocatc transvcrse to the direction of movement of said plunger and over said rear edges of said opposite side walls toward and away from each other, thc ends of said slide Inembers facing each othcr having one side facing said box-forming area adapted to form stop members for supporting the bottorn of tl1e box part formed in said area, said rear edges and also the rear side of each of said slide member ends being bevelcd so as to diverge frorn each other in the direction toward said platform so that, When said slide members arc retracted, the corresponding beveled surfaces of said slide members and said folding box are substantially in alignment with each otl1er so as to form continuous guide surfaces along which the free edges of tl1e respective side Walls of thc completed box arts can slidc, and a second pair of slide members bchind said first pair in the direction of ejection of said box arts from said folding box and movable in the same dir6ction as said first pair, each of said slide members of said second pair being adapted to engage a1- ternatively With one of two opposite side Walls of succes sively ejected box parts so as to shift one box part toward one side and tne next box part to the opposite side, whereby each box part slidcs over the beveled guide surfaces at tl1e side toward which it is shifted to a position at an inclined angle to and into the previously ejected box part.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim l, in which said first slide membcrs when serving as stop members for the formation of said box part in said folding box are movable simultaneously with each other, While When said first slide rnembers am rnoved in operative association With said second slide members, they are alternatcly movable for shifting each successive box part to an inclincd position relative to the previous box part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Goss May 17, 1925 Mednick et al. Oct. 11 1938 

1. A UNITARY APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FOLDED BOX PARTS IN THE FORM OF OPEN BOXES OR BOX COVERS AND FOR THEN STACKING SAID BOX PARTS SO AS TO NEST IN A ZIGZAG FORMATION IN EACH OTHER COMPRISING A FOLDING BOX, A PLUNGER ADAPTED TO RECIPROCATE IN A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL DIRECTION INTO AND OUT OF SAID FOLDING BOX FOR FOLDING A PRECUT BLANK INTO A BOX PART AND FOR THEN EJECTING THE LATTER FROM SAID FOLDING BOX BY MEANS OF THE FOLLOWING COMPLETED BOX PART, SAID FOLDING BOX HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL LOWER WALL, A PLATFORM SUBSTANTIALLY IN ALIGNMENT WITH AND FORMING A CONTINUATION OF SAID LOWER WALL FOR RECEIVING THE EJECTED BOX PARTS FROM SAID FOLDING BOX, A PAIR OF SLIDE MEMBERS ADJACENT TO THE REAR EDGES OF TWO OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS OF SAID FOLDING BOX DEFINING THE BOX-FORMING AREA THEREOF, SAID SLIDE MEMBERS BEING ADAPTED TO RECIPROCATE TRANSVERSE TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID PLUNGER AND OVER SAID REAR EDGES OF SAID OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, THE ENDS OF SAID SLIDE MEMBERS FACING EACH OTHER HAVING ONE SIDE FACING SAID BOX-FORMING AREA ADAPTED TO FORM STOP MEMBERS FOR SUPPORTING THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX PART FORMED IN SAID AREA, SAID REAR EDGES AND ALSO THE REAR SIDE OF EACH OF SAID SLIDE MEMBER ENDS BEING BEVELED SO 